Magazine fiee arm



Hmm sm/ 3 Sheets-Sheet 1;

Patented Mer. 11, 1884.

(No Model.)

v W. MASON.

MAGAZINE PIRE ARM. No. 295,031.

No Mode.) W MASQ 3 Sheets-Shee-t 2.

MAGAZINE FRE ARM.

,031. Patented Mar. l1, 1884.

'IMSSSSS,

(No Model.) s sheetssheet 3.

W.V MASON.

MAGAZINE FIRE ARM.

Patented Mar. 11, 1884.

f. I Mg NiTnD STATES PATENT Ormea,

VILLIAM MASON, OF N ENV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR'TO THE WIN- CHESTER REPEATING ARMS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MAGAZINE FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 295,031, dated March 11, 1884.

Application filed December' 31, 1853. (No model.)

To all whom, it' may concern:

Be it known that I, `NVM. Mason, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Magazine Fire-Arms, and l do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact deserip'icnof the same,

IO andwhich said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l, a side view from the left, portions broken away to illustrate the engagement of the spring with the hub of the magazine-stop;

Fig. 2, a partial top view, Fig. 3, a longitudinal sectional side View; Fig.` 4, the breechpiece and hammer detached, showing the arrangement ot' the trigger-piece with its'sear and projection therefrom engaged, respect# Q0 ively, with the hammer and breech piece; Figs. 5 and 6, detached views to illustrate the operation of the cam upon the trigger-piece, whereby the hammer may be locked at fullcock and the breech-piece locked in its closed i position, or the breech-piece released, but so as to leave the scar engaged therewith in the full-cocked position; Fig. 7. a transverse section on line sv x of Fig. el; Fig. S, the ea1n-le ver which operates upon the-trigger-piece, in 3o perspective, detached; Fig. 9, a side view, parts broken away to show the spring which acts upon the cam-lever; Fig. 10, a transverse section on line i/ y, Fig. 9, Fig. 11, a view from the-under side of the receiver, the trigger-guard plate removed; Fig. l2, the magazine check-lever, in perspective, detached, Fig. 13, a -frontend view of the trigger-piece detached.

This invention relates to an improvement in 4o that class oi" magazine :tire-arms in which a longitudinally-sliding bolt or breech-piece is arranged in the receiver and operated by means of a handle projecting at right angles from the breech-piece, secured in its closed position by a shoulder on the breech-piece turned down forward of a shoulder on the receiver, and released from such closed position by turning the handle upward, so as to give a partial rotation to the breech-piece to bring the locking-shoulder in line with a longitudinal slot in the receiver, such as are commonly called bolt-guns,77 and in which a magazine is arranged in an inclined position inthe buttstock at the rear, opening into the receiver in a mouth inclined forward and upward, so that the spring of the magazine will force the eolnmn of cartridges forward when the breechpiece is withdrawn, and so as to present the foremost cartridge into a position in front of the breech-piece, and so that the return or closing of the breech-piece will force such presented cartridgc into its place in the chamber in the rear end of the barrel, such magazine fire arm being known as the Hotchkiss Gun, the object being a simple cani and lever mechanism, whereby the breech-piece may be locked in its closed position and the hammer in its cocked position, or both set free by one and the same cam, and also a simple check to hold the column of cartridges in the magazine or permit them to be moved forward for use, as the case may be, and the invention consists in the construction of such locking devices, as more fully hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the receiver, to the forward end of which the barrel B is fixed. To the rear end the butt-stock C is applied, and forward the fore end is attached.

E is the breech-piece, arranged to slide longitudinally in the receiver, provided with a handle, F, by which it may loe rotated, and so as to bring the shoulder G down in front of a corresponding shoulder, H, in the receiver, when the breech-piece is in its closed position, in substantially the usual manner for this class of arms. Centrally through the breech-piece the firing-pin I is arranged, provided at its rear end with a head, J, the head constructed with a shoulder, a., to engage the nose b of the scar, all in substantially the usual manner.

K is the magazine, arranged in the stock at the rear, and opening beneath the breechpiece, also in the usual manner. The sear d is formed as a part of the trigger L. Itis hung above the magazine, as at c, but curved outward and inward, so as to pass outside the magazine and bring the trigger to a central The free end f of the spring M inthe receiver bears upward on the trigger forward of the pivot, the action of such spring being to bring the sear into the required engagement with the hammer. The notch or shoulder in the hammer is considerably deeper than is necessary for engagement with the sear, and so that the n ose end of the sear may be forced to a considerable extent beyond its natural engaged position into the recess forward of the shoulder, as seen in-Fig. 4. Forward of the sear is an extension, g, and in the breech-piece is a corresponding recess, lz', the position of this recess being in line with the projection g when the breech-piece is in its closed position, withthe handle turned down, and as seen in Fig. 2. Vhen in this position, the projection g of the trigger-piece may be forced up into the notch 7L in the breech-piece, as seen in Figs. 4,. 5, and 7. If held in that condition, the trigger-piece will serve to lock the breech-piece in its closed position, and the trigger-piece,beingthereheld, also locks the hammer in its cocked position; but the projection of the nose b of the scar above the face of the extension g is greater than the depth ofthe notch in the breech-piece, and so that the trigger may be drawn backward, so las to take the projection -g from its notch in the breech-piecel without bringing the nose of the sear so far down as to permit the hammer to escape, but will leave the hammer held bythe trigger at the full-cocked position and the trigger free to be pulled to release the hammer, in the usual manner.v

To move the trigger as above described and lock it in position to hold the breech-piece in its closed position and the hammer in its cocked position, I introduce a cam through the reeeiver-say on the right-hand sidethe hub forming a bearing upon which the cam will readily turn, and onl the outside provide this cam or hub with a handle, N, by which the person manipulating the arm may turn the cam to its different positions. The vcam is shown detached in Fig. 8.

cam-piece, Z, which stands below a shoulder, my on the trigger-piece, and substantially above a second shoulder, n, on the triggerpiece, and so that the cam-piece Z will work between the said' two shoulders. In Figs. 5

` and 6 this cam-piece is shown in its several The hub 'i carr1es upon its inner face an eccentrically-placed throwing the trigger-piece beyond the proper cocked position when the sear is engaged with the hammer. Now, if from this position, Fig.

6, the lever be turned into the position seen in Fig. 5, and as in broken lines, Fig. 9, the cam-'piece Z will pass under the shoulder m on the trigger-piece and force it upward, carrying the sear up onto the hammershoulder above the cocked position, and the proj ectlon g on the trigger-piece into the notch h in the breech-piece,as seen in Fig.5. This engagement of the trigger-piece with both the hammer-shoulder and the notch in the triggerpiece, and held by the cam-piece Z, so as to prevent the triggerl from being pulled, will lock the breech-piece in its closed condition with the hammer at full-cock. Now, if it be desired to fire the gun, return the lever to the position indicated in Fig. 6, which will bring the caml onto the shoulder a, and turn the `which it may be turned. I construct the hub t with a circumferential recess, o, and in the receiver I fix a spring, l?, the nose of which enters the recess '0, as' seen in Fig. 9. This spring lies close against the inside of the receiver, as seen in Fig. 11, and thus engages ythe hub when it is properly entered, and retains it in its seat. Transversely across the recess o is a bar, 1', and which rides over the end of the nose of the spring l? as the hub isV turned, and so that as the bar passes the nose of the spring the spring will be forced downward from the recess on one side of the bar,

-and then will return and enter the recess uponthe opposite side of the bar, and serve as a stop to hold the lever in either position to which it may be turned. The nose of the spring falling into the recess either side of the bar indicates to the operator when the cam has been turned to its extreme position.

The spring M is constructed to form a dog, It, which will enter through an opening in the bottom of the magazine to stop [the cartridge next the foremost one when the breech-piece is opened, so as to check the column of cartridges and prevent other than the first from passing out through the mouth. This dogl IOO IIO

ger is pulled the dog is depressed and releases the column of cartridges, so that the one which is held back by the dog will pass on beyond it, then, returning, will engage the next.' Thisis avcommon and well-known device. An additional check, however, is desirable, not to say necessary, in this class of arms, whereby the entire column may be held in suspense for any required time, and the arm used simply as a breech loader. To this end I apply a lever, S, similar to the lever N, but on the opposite side. This lever is shown detached in Fig. 12. It is provided with a hub, t, like the hub z' on the lever N, and is constructed with a like circumferential recess, u, into which a spring, T, (seen in Figs. 1 and 11,) bears, the same as does the spring Pinto the recess in the hub of the lever N. On the hub is a stud, fw, which projects inward, and so as to enter the top of the magazine through an opening, IV. This stud is substantially concentric with the hub, but cut awayupon one side, so asto leave a olearspace through the magazine-tube when turned to the position seen in Fig. 3, and that position is the normal position for the lever S, as seen in Fig. 1. By turning the lever S upward to the position seen in broken lines, Fig. 1, the stud w is brought into the position seen in broken lines, Fig. 3, and so that it projects into the magazine so far as to engage the ange of the cartridge, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 3, and while the stud or stop w is thus turned the column of cartridges is held in reserve, and the arm may be used as abreech-loader. Then, when the cartridges in the magazine are required, return the lever S to its normal position, where it is engaged by the spring T and held.

As there is evidently no connection between the stop for the column of cartridges and the locking device for the hammer and breechpiece, and as both are of like lconstruction so far as to their arrangement in the receiver and the device whichfholds them there, as well as retains them in the position to which they may be set, I do not wish to limit this construction of the hub and the arrangement of the spring whereby the stop or locking device is held in its seat to either the one or the other. j

The locking device to engage the sear and a projection therefrom with both the hammer and the breech-piece may be applied in breech-loading arms which employ a like breechpiece and hammer, and is therefore not to be understood as limitedto a magazinearm.

I claiml 1. The combination of the longitudinallymovable breech-piece and longitudinal hammer arranged through said breech-piece, a sear and projection therefrom constructed and arranged, respectively, so that the sear may engage a shoulder on the hammer and the said projection a corresponding notch in the breech-piece when the breech-piece is in its closed position, combined with a cam in connection with a lever on the outside of the receiver, substantially as described, whereby said scar and projection -may be thrown into locking engagement with the breech-piece and hammer at full-cock or out of such locking engagement without releasing the hammer from its full-coek position.

2. The combination of a longitudinallymovable breech-piece, a hammer arranged longitudinally through the breech-piece, the trigger-piece constructed with a sear, (Z, to engage a corresponding shoulder on the hammer, and with the projection g, to engage a corresponding notch in the breech-piece when the breech-piece is in its closed position, a cam, l, arranged through the side of the receiver, provided with a suitable handle upon its outside, the trigger-piece provided with shoulders m n, upon which the saidcam will operate, substantially as described.

VILLIAM MASON.

Vitnesses:

DANIEL H. VEADER, LEE I-I. DiiNIELs. 

